Malaga 3-day Itinerary

Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga. The city’s Picasso Museum, set in a restored 16th-century Andalusian townhouse in Malaga’s historic centre, displays over 250 of his paintings, sculptures and ceramics spanning his entire career. Book an entrance ticket here and a private guided tour here.

Here Carmen Cervera, the Malaga-born wife of Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, displays her prize collection of mainly Andalusian art, ranging from the mainly religious works of old masters to the colourful, luminous landscapes, portraits and street scenes from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Opened in 2010, this quirkily-named museum houses the private collection of Portuguese car fanatic Joao Magalhaes.

There are more than 80 vintage and modern cars here, arranged in 10 themed areas such as Belle Epoque, Art Deco 30s and English Tradition.

Alongside the cars, presumably to interest the wives of petrol heads, are beguiling displays of fashionable travel memorabilia from the 20s, 30s 40s and 50s, including a collection of 300 vintage hats.

This well-preserved Moorish city fortress, built 11th century on a hill in the city centre, was used as a military installation right up until the 18th century. The complex includes an outer enclosure, and an inner enclosure that housed the palaces.

It’s connected by a walled corridor to the higher Castle of Gibralfaro, and adjacent to the entrance are the remains of a Roman theatre, dating back to the 1st century AD.

Paris’s famous Pompidou centre is home to Europe’s largest collection of modern and contemporary art – anything from Picasso to Pop Art. Malaga’s striking museum outpost – housed beneath the colourful Cubo, was initially established in 2013 for 5 years – and was subsequently extended to 2025. It houses a permanent exhibition of several dozens of works of the impressionist collection of the XX and XXI centuries. It also hosts 2 or 3 temporary exhibitions each year, sourced from the parent collection and designed by its curators.

For thrills, chills and hopefully no spills, this vertiginous walkway, pinned 100m above ground to the walls of the narrow gorge, has become one of Andalusia’s top bucket list attractions.

Originally built in concrete in 1905 for hydroelectric plant workers, it earned its name, the ‘King’s Little Path’ in 1921 when Alfonso XIII walked it to open the Conde del Guadalhorce dam.

As it crumbled and devil-may-care walkers began plummeting to their deaths, it was closed in 2000. Fifteen years later, it reopened with a spectacular new and safe 1.5 km-long boardwalk.

This gigantic, breath-taking stalactite show cave is open all year round, with possible night visits. Buy the ticket that includes the museum, with photos of the cave’s inaccessible art –possibly the oldest paintings in Europe, dating back to 42,000 BC. 

Once impregnable Ronda is the only city in the wildly beautiful Serrania de Ronda between Malaga and Seville, and makes for a fine day trip.

Teetering on sheer cliffs, Ronda’s extraordinary Puente Nuevo straddles the 150m deep Tajo gorge, linking the old Moorish town to the new. The views alone make it Andalusia’s third most visited city, but there is much more, including the Palacio de Mondragon Museum and gardens, the city walls and gates.

Ronda is also a gateway to a series of so-called White Villages (Pueblos Blancos) – 20 hill towns in the Sierra de Grazalema named after their glowing white-washed walls, immersed in lovely landscapes. There are several circular White Village routes out of Ronda, or en route to Cadiz or Jerez de la Frontera. Ideal for leisurely touring by car or bike.

Ronda’s town museum is housed in the 14th-century royal palace of Moorish king Abomelic I, with its gardens, Moorish courtyards and views out over the Sierra de Grazalema. Exhibits cover the town’s history, and the nearby Pileta Cave.

An 18th-century mansion where can visit the half-French, half-Moorish garden and the extraordinary ‘water mine’ that supplied Ronda, 231 steps below the gardens to the Tajo river.